Office Tower Planned At 303 W. Madison

May 09, 1985|By David Ibata.

Jaymont Properties Inc. expects to begin construction next spring of its first downtown office tower, at 303 W. Madison St., it was learned Wednesday. The real estate development firm plans to demolish the existing Catholic Order of Foresters Building on the site this winter, according to Nicholas F. Wilder, regional vice president of Jaymont.

If the city approves Jaymont`s tower, construction will begin next March or April, Wilder said. First occupancies will be in the late summer of 1987. The structure will occupy a 14,000-square-foot site on the southwest corner of Madison and Franklin Streets.

Tentative plans by the Chicago architectural firm of Skidmore Owings & Merrill call for a building with bluish-tinted windows and a granite or limestone facade, Wilder said. The first floor will contain retailing space.

The tower may be more than 20 stories tall and contain up to 300,000 square feet, Wilder said. Its final height and size will be determined during negotiations with city officials this summer after Jaymont submits its proposal to the city.

The building`s dollar value also hasn`t been determined.

Unlike recent ``postmodern`` creations, such as the neighboring 1 S. Wacker Dr. office tower, ``our building will reflect traditional architecture of the Chicago School, which we believe will be attractive to tenants,``

Wilder said. ``Additionally, our floors will have approximately 12,000 square feet apiece, compared with 20,000 or more square feet in other buildings. A tenant who would be lost on part of a floor in another building will be able to take a full floor in ours.``

The Catholic Order of Foresters, an insurance company, built its four-story Loop headquarters in 1952. It sold the structure to Jaymont and moved to west suburban Naperville last August. The Foresters building`s last tenant, Illinois Bell Telephone Co., moved out in April.

The property originally was to be part of an office development by Cadillac Fairview Corp. of Toronto. In 1982, Cadillac acquired and razed the Hart Schaffner & Marx building on the northwest corner of Monroe and Franklin Streets to make way for a 53-story, 1.2-million-square-foot skyscraper.

The Canadian developer also agreed to pay more than $5 million for the Foresters building, which was to be razed and replaced by a plaza, Wilder said. Cadillac subsequently put its plans on hold and let Jaymont take over the sales contract with the Foresters.

Cadillac still owns the vacant Hart Schaffner site and reportedly is planning a 750,000-square-foot tower there. When contacted Wednesday, the developer refused to comment on its Chicago project except to say it would not begin construction before securing an anchor office tenant.

Jaymont is controlled by the Jameel family of Saudi Arabia. The company`s other Chicago holding besides the Foresters site is the Hamilton Lakes office and hotel complex in west suburban Itasca, a joint venture in which it is an equal partner with Trammell Crow Co.